Portuguese EU Presidency: North Macedonia’s and Albania’s EU integration is priority

EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania are among the priorities of the Portuguese EU Presidency. This was stated by Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs Augusto Santos Silva at an online briefing after his country took over the EU rotating presidency on January 1, BNR correspondent in Brussels Angelina Piskova reported. The EU was very demanding of North Macedonia, Minister Augusto Santos Silva said.The former Yugoslav republic has had to carry out a number of important reforms and even change its name. " Skopje did its job. Now is the time for us to do our job”, the Portuguese Foreign Minister said further.

Aftershocks in Croatia continue on daily basis

The catastrophic 6.2 magnitude earthquake that hit ​​Petrinja area in Croatia on December 29, 2020, was followed by numerous aftershocks. This was one of the two strongest earthquakes in Croatia since the beginning of the twentieth century, BTA informs. A state of emergency was declared in the area on January 4th.

"If you are not Croatian, you are thinking about beaches and tourism, but the epicenter of the earthquake was in Central Croatia - part of the country that no one really thinks about," Croatian journalist Jelena Prtorić told BNR. This is one of the poorest areas in Croatia. Here, the scars of the YugoslavWars are quite evident. Some of the locals lost their homes for the first time during that period. "This is like Hiroshima, half of the city no longer exists," Petrinja Mayor Darinko Dumbović said in despair after the quake.

Croatian citizens have already donated about EUR 7.8 million and the Croatian Red Cross donated about EUR 4.6 million to help the affected areas.

Cabinet reshuffles take place in Greece- opposition calls changes cosmetic

The newly-appointed spokesman of the Greek government Christos Tarantilis, announced the line-up of the cabinet of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis after the latest cabinet reshuffles, after which the new cabinet ministers took an oath. Changes were made mainly on a deputy minister level, and the newly-appointed members are mostly from the ruling conservative New Democracy party. Former Energy and Environment Minister Kostis Hadzidakis was appointed Minister of Labor and Social Affairs andformer Minister of Agriculture Makis Voridis was given the Interior Ministry portfolio, BTA reported. The opposition assesses the changes as cosmetic. The new Deputy Minister of Culture and Sports Nicholas Yatromanolakis makes history, becoming the country‘s first openly representative of the LGBTI community in the Greek government.

The aim of the changes is to speed up the recovery of the country's economy against the backdrop of the damages stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, the government said.

Anti-Roma behavior to be penalized with up to 10 years in prison in Romania

Romanian President Klaus Johannis promulgated a law which could penalize anti-Roma behavior with up to 10 years in prison for those who publicly promote anti-Roma doctrines, disseminate such material or participate in anti-Roma organizations, BTA reported. The normative act defines the term "anti-Gypsyism" as verbal and physical acts against Roma People motivated by hatred. It was adopted by the Senate in December 2019, and on December 15, 2020 was voted in the Chamber of Deputies.

Romanian mountaineer Alex Gavansets off to K2

38-year-old Romanian mountaineer Alex Gavan, in partnership with 34-year-old Italian Tamara Lunger, set off to the slopes of K2 in an attempt to climb the world's second-highest peak in the winter without the use of supplementary oxygen. "Climbing with oxygen is cheating - 8,000 meters with oxygen is like3,500 meters without," Gavan said in an interview for BBC. If all goes according to plan, Alex Gavan and Tamara Lungershould climb the world’s most dangerous mount in mid-February. Gavan has climbed seven eight-thousanders without supplementary oxygen, and Tamara took part at four winter ascents of eight thousanders.

Written by: Miglena Ivanova

English version: Kostadin Atanasov